Heteroclinic switching between chimeras

Abstract

Functional oscillator networks, such as neuronal networks in the brain, exhibit switching between metastable states involving many oscillators. We give exact results how such global dynamics can arise in paradigmatic phase oscillator networks: higher-order network interaction gives rise to metastable chimeras - localized frequency synchrony patterns - which are joined by heteroclinic connections. Moreover, we illuminate the mechanisms that underly the switching dynamics in these experimentally accessible networks.